China is the world's largest producer and consumer of rice. Photo: Xinhua

China, the world’s top rice producer and consumer, will start trading futures next week for short-grain rice on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, the bourse said.

The move comes as China speeds up the expansion of its commodity futures markets, with the government hoping to offer companies more hedging tools and boost the country’s influence over global prices.

The benchmark price for Japonica short-grain rice contracts has been set at 3,050 yuan (HK$3,855) per tonne for contracts for the months of March, May, July, September and November, according to a statement issued by the exchange on Tuesday. They will begin trading on Monday.

The country’s Japonica rice output stood at 64.44 million tonnes last year, largely grown in the northeast provinces and accounting for 31.5 per cent of China’s total rice production, it said.

A government spokesman said in mid-October that China was planning to debut Japonica futures.